After completing the fifth commercial crew rotation trip to the International Space Station (ISS) and spending 157 days in orbit, NASA’s SpaceX Crew-5 safely returned to Earth on Sunday.
NASA astronauts Nicole Mann and Josh Cassada, along with JAXA astronaut Koichi Wakata and Roscosmos cosmonaut Anna Kikina, landed safely in their Dragon spacecraft off the coast of Tampa, Florida, at 9.02 p.m. EST.
“Welcome home, Crew-5! This international crew has been conducting critical science experiments and technology demonstrations on the International Space Station that will help prepare us for future deep space missions and pave the way fora-oura-return to the Moon,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson.
“Each advancement these explorers make is not an achievement for one, but a giant leap for all of humanity.”
During their mission, Mann, Cassada, Wakata, and Kikina travelled 66,577,531 miles, spent 156.5 days aboard the space station, and performed 2,512 orbits around Earth.
Mann, Cassada, and Kikina flew into space for the first time on the Crew-5 mission. Wakata has spent 505 days in space over the course of his five voyages.
Throughout their mission, the Crew-5 team participated in a variety of scientific and maintenance operations, as well as technology demonstrations.
Cassada worked alongside NASA astronaut Frank Rubio on three spacewalks, prepping and installing two new iROSAs, or International Space Station Roll-Out Solar Arrays.
Mann and Wakata collaborated on two spacewalks, preparing the orbiting laboratory for solar array augmentation, according to NASA.
The crew members also tried hydroponic and aeroponic techniques for growing plants without soil, launched Uganda and Zimbabwe’s first satellites, and researched how liquids move in a container in simulated lunar gravity to produce data to improve Moon rover designs.
They put an on-demand technology to the test, producing precise amounts of vital nutrients from yoghurt, kefir, and a yeast-based beverage.
“The astronauts grew dwarf tomatoes in efforts to address the need for a continuous fresh-food production capability in space and reinstalled the station’s bioprinting facility as a stepping stone in long-term plans to manufacture whole human organs in space,” said NASA.
